CECILIA BRAINARD BLOG: A compilation of articles by Philippine American writer Cecilia Manguerra Brainard. Stop and rest for a while in my blogsite.

Monday, October 27, 2008

More Re A La Carte - National Book Award Finalist

My friend and co-editor of A La Carte, Marily Orosa, informed me that A La Carte is a finalist for the National Book Award in Anthology:

FINALISTS TO THE 2008 NATIONAL BOOK AWARDSAccording to the Manila Critics Circle and the National Book Development Board, these are the finalists for the National Book Awards for books published in 2007:

Marily and I are delighted and amused that A La Carte is still attracting literary attention. The book won the prestigious Gourmand Award 2008 as the Best Food Literature Book from the Philippines. It also won third in the International Gourmand Award in London. Here are the book's blurbs:

"A menu of stories to suit your every craving! That’s A la Carte: Food & Fiction. This book fills a hunger in Philippine literature for fantasy, hyper-reality, romance, mystery … but with a good measure of culinary flavoring mixed in."Felice Prudente Sta. Maria, culinary heritage advocate and writer

"Here is a book guaranteed to satisfy even the most discriminating taste, but also to make readers hungry for more stories, characters, insights, and recipes. Fact, fiction, fantasy, and food mix in a feast for the mind, the heart, the palate, and the soul. There are many well-known writers in the anthology, but it is not so much who writes as what is written that makes this book a must-read, just as it is not so much the chef or the cook that makes a recipe to die for, but the dish itself. Enjoy the 25-course banquet."Isagani R. Cruz, The Philippine Star

"Books on food are quite popular these days and we are glad that recentpublications have gone beyond mere recipes to evoke what Proust called a‘remembrance of things past.’ "Ambeth R. OcampoChairman, National Commission for Culture and the ArtsChairman, National Historical Institute

Cecilia Manguerra Brainard is the award-winning author of 9 books, including When the Rainbow Goddess Wept, Magdalena, Vigan and Other Stories, and Out of Cebu: Essays and Personal Prose. She edited four books, co-edited six books, and co-authored a novel, Angelica's Daughters.
Her work has been translated into Finnish and Turkish; and many of her stories and articles have been widely anthologized.
Cecilia has received many awards, including a California Arts Council Fellowship in Fiction, a Brody Arts Fund Award, a Special Recognition Award for her work dealing with Asian American youths, as well as a Certificate of Recognition from the California State Senate, 21st District, and the Outstanding Individual Award from her birth city, Cebu, Philippines. She has received several travel grants from the USIS.
She has lectured and performed at UCLA, USC, University of Connecticut, University of the Philippines, PEN, Shakespeare & Company in Paris, and many others. She teaches creative writing at the Writers Program at UCLA-Extension.

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Cecilia Manguerra Brainard is the award-winning author of 9 books, including When the Rainbow Goddess Wept, Magdalena, Vigan and Other Stories, and Out of Cebu: Essays and Personal Prose. She edited four books, co-edited six books, and co-authored a novel, Angelica's Daughters.
Her work has been translated into Finnish and Turkish; and many of her stories and articles have been widely anthologized.
Cecilia has received many awards, including a California Arts Council Fellowship in Fiction, a Brody Arts Fund Award, a Special Recognition Award for her work dealing with Asian American youths, as well as a Certificate of Recognition from the California State Senate, 21st District, and the Outstanding Individual Award from her birth city, Cebu, Philippines. She has received several travel grants from the USIS.
She has lectured and performed at UCLA, USC, University of Connecticut, University of the Philippines, PEN, Shakespeare & Company in Paris, and many others. She teaches creative writing at the Writers Program at UCLA-Extension.